This invention relates to a method and apparatus for loading and unloading palletized loads. More particularly, this invention relates to a sling for performing this function.
In the loading and unloading of palletized loads onto and from transport vehicles such as ships, the palletized loads are commonly placed on large metal support plates in turn carried by the cables of a hoisting mechanism. In order to move a palletized load pursuant to this method, an empty or unloaded plate is placed on a level surface near a palletized load which is then lifted and deposited on the plate.
A disadvantage of this conventional method of moving palletized loads is the extra time required for moving the loads onto empty carrier plates. This disadvantage is particularly apparent when there is a relatively limited supply of hoisting mechanisms and carrier plates available for loading or unloading a transport vehicle.
Recent improvements in the palletization of crates of vegetable goods such as bananas, e.g., the wrapping of a stack of crates in a helically wound plastic sheet, have rendered palletized loads increasingly stable and concomitantly enabled treatment of palletized loads as unitary objects.
In a particular improved apparatus for the loading and unloading of palletized goods, a pair of bars each having a plurality of teeth extending transversely to the elongate dimension of the respective bar are hung from a frame assembly so that the teeth of each bar point upwardly and inwardly towards the other bar. Palletized loads are supported on the teeth of the pair of bars, the teeth being inserted, during a loading operation, under the pallets to be moved.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for loading and unloading palletized loads.
Another, more particular, object of the present invention is to provide such a method and apparatus wherein several palletized loads are capable of being moved simultaneously by a single hoisting mechanism.
An even more particular object of the present invention is to provide such a method and apparatus wherein the several palletized loads to be moved need not be lifted in order to place the loads in an operative engagement with the moving apparatus.